UK climate change programme : memoranda relating to the inquiry submitted to the Committee / Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Transport, and Regional Affairs Committee.
Date:
1999
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: UK climate change programme : memoranda relating to the inquiry submitted to the Committee / Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    over the next century in reducing its dependence on fossil fuels. It is particularly important to get this message across to business, so that they are aware of the future implications for investment decisions taken today. 2.2 By gradually introducing policies over the next 10 years and beyond, which will establish an economic, regulatory and institutional environment that encourages efficient energy use, and the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable sources, we should at the same time stimulate a behavioural transformation in the way our citizens and society operate. Nevertheless, this will need to be accompanied by a radical education programme, to inform the public why a change in behaviour is needed, and the policy measures that are being put in place to try and help achieve this. 3. The Government’s timetable for producing and implementing its Climate Change Strategy The Consultation Paper does not indicate the planned timetable that the government has for the implementation of a climate change strategy, other than by way of the target end-dates for the Kyoto obligations. A detailed timetable of domestic action would re-enforce the Government’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 4. The role of different sectors of the economy in meeting the emissions reduction targets and the merits of sectoral targets It is essential that the burden of emissions reduction is fairly and efficiently distributed between the sectors. Some sectors may have already made substantial progress in reducing emissions or in using energy more efficiently. We should ensure that all sectors make a substantial contribution to the target, even those which are difficult to access with policy measures, or where it may be considered politically difficult to do so. For some sectors tradeable permit may be a way of introducing transparency and cost effectiveness into the process. 5. The policies from the consultation paper on the Climate Change Strategy which will be required to meet the UK’s legally binding target for the basket of six greenhouse gases and the domestic target for carbon dioxide emissions; The Government should affirm the 20 per cent reduction target as its 2010 objective. Aiming for the higher 20 per cent target would also speed-up the UK’s ability to achieve further CO, emissions throughout the first half of the next century. This would also improve the UK’s competitive advantage through both an international carbon trading scheme, and through the export of cleaner technology innovations driven by this target. 6. The uncertainties involved in emissions projections and the impact of policies upon those projections; The uncertainties associated with emissions projections come from two sources: (i) the uncertainties related to how the activities leading to emissions will change in the future; and (ii) the lack of accuracy in estimating emissions at the present. The measurement and monitoring of greenhouse gases needs to improve significantly, so that we can be confident of how emission levels are changing over time, and have the ability to measure the effectiveness of chosen policies in reducing emissions. We support the introduction of standardised carbon dioxide reporting by organisations in this respect. It is highly likely that the present percentage reduction targets are within the range of uncertainty of existing rates of emission. This situation needs to be addressed methodically and quickly. 7. The mechanisms required to monitor the effectiveness of policies in reducing emissions; 7.1 We support the work being done by DETR to further develop a methodology for businesses to measure their greenhouse gas emissions, which has arisen from work done by UNEP and NPI. This methodology allows companies to calculate a single number measuring their total greenhouse emissions. 7.2 The Environment Agency’s newly development Inventory of Sources and Releases requires industry to report on emissions of all the greenhouse gases for releases above a specified value. For carbon dioxide the threshold value is 10,000 tonnes which will capture all the big emitters. This will help provide a good picture of carbon dioxide discharges from large point sources, but it will not provide coverage of all the small diffuse sources which could be extremely difficult to measure. However, it should be possible to cover these diffuse sources indirectly by measuring the amount of fuel used and distributed higher up the chain. 8. The extent to which “flexible mechanisms” should be used in achieving the legally binding target; We believe that the UK should only use the flexible mechanisms as an adjunct to effective domestic reduction measures. The international emis¢ions trading scheme could be used as an opportunity to sell excess carbon